Fire escape



Sept. 27, 1955 w. H. YANCEY 2,718,994

FIRE ESCAPE Filed Sept. 13, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l F1 l Fl' E INVENTOR 4*W WILLIAM H YANCEY Sept. 27, 1955 w. H. YANCEY FIRE ESCAPE 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 15, 1950 IN;ENTOR VVILLJAM H YANCE' Y BY 6WATTORNEYS United States Patent FIRE ESCAPE William H. Yancey,Louisville, Ky.

Application September 13, 1950, Serial No. 184,618

1 Claim. ((31. 227-34) The present invention relates to a fire escape ofthe type employing a stationary lowering unit and a mobile carrier unit,the two units being connected by a rope or cable.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a fire escape of thetype described which will safely and rapidly lower one or severalescapees secured to the carrier unit of the fire escape.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a fireescape having a carrier unit for the escapees, the rate of descent ofwhich is under the complete control of the lowering unit and which maybe stopped at any point in its descent to pick up additional persons.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the followingdescription of the present preferred form of the invention taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a front elevational view of the present invention as appliedto a building, the carrier unit being shown in escape position;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Figure1, looking in the direction of the arrows, and showing the fire escapein elevation;

Figure 3 is a front elevational View of the fire escape per se; and

Figure 4 is a side elevational view of the carrier unit forming a partof the present invention.

Referring now in greater detail to the drawings, I have, in Figures 1and 2, shown the fire escape of the present invention in operativeposition in a building 9. The fire escape comprises generally, alowering unit A and a carrier unit B, the latter being shown outside awindow of the building 9.

Lowering unit A embodies a U-shaped supporting bracket 11, the centralportion of which is apertured at 11 to receive means for securing theunit either to the ceiling as shown or to some other fixed part of thebuilding. Journaled near the free terminals of U-shaped bracket 11 is anaxle 12 on which is rigidly secured a spool 13. Mounted on axle 12between one terminus of spool 13 and bracket 11 is a conventionalexpansion type brake assembly 14 operated by a spring actuated brakelever 15 for stopping rotation of spool 13.

To control the speed of rotation of spool 13 and consequently the rateof descent of the escapee, the lowering unit is equipped with a governor16 mounted on an extended portion of axle 12. Should the speed ofrotation of spool 13 exceed a predetermined rate, the governor weights17 operate to set brake 14.- For re-winding spool 13 after each descent,axle 12 is provided with a crank 18.

Carrier unit B consists of a supporting backboard 19 to the upper partof which is secured a U-shaped bracket 20. Rotatably mounted betweenopposing sides of said bracket is a spool 21. Between one end of spool21 and bracket is a conventional expansion type brake assembly 22. Theassembly includes a brake lever 23 operable to prevent rotation of spool21; a tension spring 24 one end of which is secured to abracket-supported threadice edly adjustable rod 25, the other end of thespring being engaged to the brake lever 23; and a thumb-operated lever26 mounted on supporting backboard 19 and acting through an intermediatearm 27 to work against spring 24 and set the brake (see Figure 4) at theoption of an escapee.

The lower extremity of supporting backboard 19 is apertured at 28 andthe lateral margins of said backboard are provided with cars 29 forhooking on safety belts 30 or any other suitable securing means whichare fastened about the escapees.

Mounted at the top of the U-shaped bracket 20 and extending between thesides thereof is a strip 31 apertured at 32 for the egress of brake rope33 which is wound about spool 21 and extends to brake lever 15 of thelowering unit. The topmost portion of backboard 19 is bent to form aflange 34 for the reception of a swivel eye 35 to which is secured loadrope 36. The rope 36 extends upwardly to and is normally wound on spool13 of the lowering unit. The swivel eye prevents skewing motion of thecarrier unit.

In operation, the escapee releases brake 22 of the carrier unit byoperation of thumb-lever 26. This in turn relieves the braking pressureexerted by brake rope 33 on brake lever 23 of the lowering unitpermitting rotation of spool 13 under the weight of the escapee andconsequent descent of the carrier unit. In case the speed of descentexceeds a predetermined rate, governor 16 serves to control the rotationof spool 13 and slow down the descent of the carrier unit.

If it is desired to stop the carrier at some point in its descent, thumblever 26 is set to apply brake 22 thereby stopping rotation of spool 21.This causes brake rope 33 to draw taut and actuate brake lever 15,halting the descent of the carrier unit in an obvious manner.

Although I have herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention, such has been done for purposes of illustration, andI am aware that various changes may be made therein which come withinthe scope of the claim hereto appended.

What I claim is:

A fire escape comprising a carrier unit which includes a supportingbackboard extending forwardly at its upper end to provide means forconnection to the cable of a lowering unit, said lowering unit includinga spool having a brake on one end and a lowering cable reeled on thespool, a U-shaped bracket mounted on the backboard with the legs thereofextending forwardly from the backboard, a second spool rotatably mountedin the U-shaped bracket, a brake band in surrounding relation to a brakedrum at one end of the second spool, a lever actuating the brake band, amanual lever pivotally mounted on the backboard, a link connecting thetwo said levers, and a spring carried by one leg of the bracket andterminally connected with the first said lever to normally keep thebrake band out of engagement with the drum, the second said lever beingdepressible against tension of the spring to actuate the brake band, anda second cable on the spool for operative connection with the brake ofthe lowering unit.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS193,259 Lewis et al July 17, 1877 200,200 Kenyon Feb. 12,1878 234,828Wherritt Nov. 23,1880 288,149 Youngman Nov. 6, 1883 484,042 Rankin etal. Oct. 11, 1892 641,705 Loenig Jan. 23, 1900 707,346 Neale Aug. 19,1902 1,117,098 Sherman Nov. 10,1914

